President Donald Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, discussed the Tennessee special election that occurred Tuesday night, saying Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn "lost by a lot more than they thought."

With 99% of the vote counted, Republican Matt Van Epps led Behn by about 9 percentage points -- 53.9% to 45% -- according to the Associated Press.

Trump also criticized Democrats using the term "affordability."

President Donald Trump is set to announce a loosening of vehicle fuel efficiency standards that were put in place during the Biden administration, a White House official confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.

A White House official confirmed reports that the reset of the federal fuel efficiency standards, which Trump is set to announce in the Oval Office alongside auto executives on Wednesday afternoon, is expected to save Americans up to $109 billion. The details of the announcement were first reported by Fox News.

"As America's largest auto producer, we appreciate President Trump's leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities. We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability. This is a win for customers and common sense," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement to ABC News.

ABC News has confirmed that Farley and Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa will be in attendance at the event in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

The 2024 rule from the Biden administration mandated a 2% increase in fuel efficiency each year for vehicles produced between 2027 through 2031 and a 20% per year increase, which would bring the average vehicle fuel economy up to about 50.4 miles per gallon.

The transportation sector is one of the most significant contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, with cars and trucks accounting for a majority of those emissions, according to the EPA.

The Trump administration says the rollback of fuel economy standards is about reducing vehicle costs, but that's not an established fact, with a Consumer Reports analysis of vehicle-purchase data for 2003 to 2021 model years finding "no systemic, statistically significant increase in inflation-adjusted vehicle prices across vehicle classes or vehicle nameplates."

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser, Clara McMichael and Michelle Stoddart

The United States has announced new visa restrictions targeting Nigerians accused of undermining religious freedom.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the new visa restrictions Wednesday, saying the U.S. is taking "decisive action" in response to mass killing and violence against Christians by radical Islamic terrorists.

The new policy, which will apply to Nigeria and any other governments or individuals engaged in violations of religious freedom, will allow the State Department to restrict visa issuance to individuals who have "directed, authorized, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom and, where appropriate, their immediate family members."

Earlier in November, the State Department officially designated Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" alleging the Nigerian government was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the west African country.

President Donald Trump then ordered ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his criticism that the government was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the west African country.

"If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump posted on social media. “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”

Notably, Nigerian officials have denied the claims of targeted persecution and state that the violence is a complex issue affecting all faiths, often stemming from ethnic and resource conflicts.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

As foreign ministers and allies gathered in Brussels on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was noticeably absent from the gathering.

The last time a U.S. secretary of state skipped a NATO ministerial was more than 20 years ago, when then Secretary of State Colin Powell had to skip a meeting in 2003, which was attributed to the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

NATO leaders were expected to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine, future support for Kyiv and possible pathways to end the conflict this week. The summit in Brussels comes a day after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in Moscow.

State officials brushed off Rubio's absence and have said the secretary has attended dozens of meetings with NATO allies and is constantly in communication with them.

"He's working extremely hard to take care not only of the situation of Ukraine, but of course many other issues which are on his plate," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters ahead of the meeting. "So, I totally accept him not being able to be here tomorrow, and I would not read anything in it."

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is attending the Brussels meeting in Rubio's place.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan